Civil Trial Counsel of Wisconsin - Political Tidbits November 6, 2002

November 6, 2002

Wisconsin Politics
Democrats to Control East Wing – First Time in 16 Years
Democrat Jim Doyle is Wisconsin’s governor-elect following a wide-open gubernatorial race. Doyle, who will be Wisconsin’s 44th governor and the first Democrat to hold the state’s top position since 1986, won with 45 percent of the vote. Republican Governor Scott McCallum, who conceded the race shortly before midnight, received 42 percent of the vote, while Libertarian Ed Thompson reached double-digits receiving 10 percent of the vote.

The race was the most expensive election in Wisconsin’s history. Early estimates show that as much as $20 million was spent on the gubernatorial election.

Lautenschlager Defeats Biskupic
Democrat Peg Lautenschlager defeated Republican Vince Biskupic in the state’s Attorney General race. Peg Lautenschlager is a former state legislator, Winnebago County DA, and U.S. Attorney.

State Treasurer/Secretary of State
Incumbents emerged victorious in both of these races. Republican State Treasurer Jack Voight defeated Democrat Dawn Marie Sass and Democratic Secretary of State Douglas LaFollette defeated Republican challenger Robert Lorge.

Republicans Win Senate Majority
Republicans defeated three Democrat incumbents in Tuesday’s election giving the Republicans an 18-15 majority. Incumbent Senators Jim Baumgart (D-Sheboygan), Rod Moen (D-Whitehall) and Kim Plache (D-Racine) all lost their seats in what appears to be fallout from the Capitol caucus scandal that rocked former Senate Majority Leader Chuck Chvala. Republicans also maintained the seat formerly held by Peggy Rosenzweig (R-Wauwatosa), who was defeated in the September primary by Tom Reynolds. We expect that leadership positions within the Republican and Democrat caucuses will be decided later this week.

Here are the numbers for the key Senate races:

5th Senate District – Tom Reynolds (R) defeats George Christenson (D) 53% to 47%.
9th Senate District – Joe Leibham (R) defeats Sen. Jim Baumgart (D) by 23 votes. (A recount will likely occur.)
21st Senate District – Cathy Stepp (D) defeats Sen. Kim Plache (D) 51% to 49%.
31st Senate District – Ron Brown (D) defeats Sen. Rod Moen (D) 51% to 49%.

Republicans Increase Assembly Majority
The Assembly Republicans gained two seats to increase their majority to 58-41. Here’s how it breaks down. The Republicans lost three seats (Skindrud, open 26th and the open 70th seats), the Democrats lost three seats (Meyerhofer, open 87th and the open 90th seats). Republicans picked up two new open seats created by redistricting, the open 43rd and the open 32nd seat.

Here are the numbers for those races:

5th District – Becky Weber (R) defeats Rep. Lee Meyerhofer (D) 52% to 48%.
32nd District – Thomas Lothian (R) defeats Ryan Schroeder (D) 52% to 42%.
43rd District – Debi Towns (R) defeats Jerry Lowrie (D)51% to 45%.
26th District – Terry Van Akkeren (D) defeats Kurt Zempel (R) 54.5% to 45.5%.
70th District – Amy Sue Vruwink (D) defeats Gary Meyer (R) 54% to 46%.
79th District – Sondy Pope-Roberts (D) defeats Rep. Rick Skindrud (R) 53% to 47%.
87th District – Mary Williams (R) defeats Paula Houdek (D) by 315 votes.
90th District – Karl Van Roy (R) defeats Riger Dier (D) 51% to 46%.

Senate
District 1	Alan Lasee* (R) 63%	Susan Hisabeck (D) 37%
District 3	Tim Carpenter (D) unopposed
District 5	Tom Reynolds (R) 53%	George Christenson (D) 47%
District 7	Richard Grobschmidt* (D) 80%	Jim Carpenter (G) 20%
District 9	Joe Leibham (R) 50%	Jim Baumgart* (D) 50%
District 11	Neal Kedzie (R) 69%	Scott Woods (D) 31%
District 13	Scott Fitzgerald* (R) 69%	Walt Christensen (D) 31%
District 15	Judy Robson* (D) 65%	Greg Black (R) 35%
District 17	Dale Schultz* (R) 66.5%	Emmett Reilly (D) 33.5%
District 19	Mike Ellis* (R) unopposed
District 21	Cathy Stepp (R) 51%	Kim Plache* (D) 49%
District 23	Dave Zien*(R) 63%	Earl Larson (D) 37%
District 25	Robert Jauch* (D) 63%	Gregg Condon (R) 37%
District 27	Jon Erpenbach* (D) unopposed
District 29	Russ Decker* (D) 68%	Jimmy Boy Edming (R) 32%
District 31	Ron Brown (R) 51%	Rod Moen* (D) 49%
District 33	Ted Kanavas* (R) unopposed

*incumbent

Assembly
District 1	Garey Bies* (R) 66%	Tom Henman (D) 34%
District 2	Frank Lasee * (R) 63%	Daniel Katers (D) 37%
District 3	Al Ott * (R) unopposed
District 4	Phil Montgomery * (R) 63%	Sidney Vineburg (D) 37%
District 5	Becky Weber (R) 52%	Lee Meyerhofer (D)* 48%
District 6	John Ainsworth* (R) unopposed
District 7	Peggy Krusick* (D) unopposed
District 8	Pedro Colon* (D) unopposed
District 9	Josh Zepnick (D) unopposed
District 10	Annette Polly Williams* (D) unopposed
District 11	Johnnie Morris-Tatum* (D) unopposed
District 12	Shirley Krug* (D) 66.5%	Victor Campbell (R) 33.5%
District 13	David Cullen* (D) 51%	Steve Adamczyk (R) 49%
District 14	Leah Vukmir (R) 88.5%	David Comey (L) 11.5%
District 15	Tony Staskunas* (D) 58%	William Green (R) 42%
District 16	Leon Young* (D) unopposed
District 17	Spencer Coggs* (D) unopposed
District 18	Antonio Riley* (D) unopposed
District 19	John Richards* (D) unopposed
District 20	Christine Sinicki* (D) unopposed
District 21	Jeff Plale* (D) 66%	Arden Degner (R) 34%
District 22	Sheldon Wasserman* (D) unopposed
District 23	Curtis Gielow (R) 62%	Lin Clousing (D) 38%
District 24	Suzanne Jeskewitz* (R) unopposed
District 25	Bob Ziegelbauer* (D) unopposed
District 26	Terry Van Akkeren (D) 54.5%	Kurt Zempel (R) 45.5%
District 27	Steve Kestell* (R) unopposed
District 28	Mark Pettis* (R) 52%	Charles Wolden (D) 48%
District 29	Joe Plouff* (D) 62%	Jon Anthony Hauser (R) 38%
District 30	Kitty Rhoades* (R) 69%	Robert Feickert (D) 31%
District 31	Steve Nass* (R) 87%	Leroy Watson (L) 13%
District 32	Thomas Lothian (R) 52%	Ryan Schroeder (D) 42%
District 33	Daniel Vrakas* (R) unopposed
District 34	Dan Meyer* (R) 60%	Buzzy Mode (D) 40%
District 35	Donald Friske* (R) 66.5%	Todd Frederick (D) 33.5%
District 36	Lorraine Seratti* (R) 61%	Tom Thielke (D) 39%
District 37	David Ward* (R) 62.5%	Donald Waller (D) 37.5%
District 38	Steven Foti* (R) 58%	Mo Hansen (D) 42%
District 39	Jeff Fitzgerald* (R) unopposed
District 40	Jean Hundertmark* (R) unopposed
District 41	Luther Olsen* (R) unopposed
District 42	J.A. Hines* (R) unopposed
District 43	Debi Towns (R) 51%	Jerry Lowrie (D) 45%
District 44	Wayne Wood* (D) unopposed
District 45	Dan Schooff* (D) unopposed
District 46	Tom Hebl* (D) 61%	Hariah Hutkowski (R) 39%
District 47	Gene Hahn* (R) 57%	Megan Yost (D) 43%
District 48	Mark Miller* (D) 84%	Terry Gray (L) 16%
District 49	Gabe Loeffelholz* (R) 54%	Arlene Sass (D) 46%
District 50	Sheryl Albers* (R) unopposed
District 51	Stephen Freese* (R) 61%	Larry Wolf (D) 39%
District 52	John Townsend* (R) unopposed
District 53	Carol Owens* (R) unopposed
District 54	Gregg Underheim* (R) 58%	James Genisio (D) 42%
District 55	Dean Kaufert* (R) unopposed
District 56	Terri McCormick* (R) unopposed
District 57	Steve Wieckert* (R) unopposed
District 58	Glenn Grothman* (R) unopposed
District 59	Daniel LeMahieu (R) 79%	Catherine Lawton (I) 15%
District 60	Mark Gottlieb (R) unopposed
District 61	Robert Turner* (D) unopposed
District 62	John Lehman* (D) 85%	Keith Deschler (L) 15%
District 63	Bonnie Ladwig* (R) unopposed
District 64	Jim Kreuser* (D) unopposed
District 65	John Steinbrink* (D) unopposed
District 66	Samantha Starczyk* (R) unopposed
District 67	Jeffrey Wood (R) 61%	Paul Gordon (D) 39%
District 68	Larry Balow* (D) 51%	Terry Moulton (R) 49%
District 69	Scott Suder* (R) 69%	Larry Osegard (D) 31%
District 70	Amy Sue Vruwink (D) 54%	Gary Meyer (R) 46%
District 71	Julie Lassa* (D) 72.5%	Leo Harris (R) 27.5%
District 72	Marlin Schneider* (D) 64%	Thomas Ziegler (R) 36%
District 73	Frank Boyle* (D) 51.5%	Daryl Helenius (R) 41%
District 74	Gary Sherman* (D) unopposed
District 75	Mary Hubler* (D) 70%	Gayle Seefluth (R) 30%
District 76	Terese Berceau* (D) unopposed
District 77	Spencer Black* (D) unopposed
District 78	Mark Pocan* (D) unopposed
District 79	Sondy Pope-Roberts (D) 53%	Rick Skindrud* (R) 47%
District 80	Mike Powers* (R) 61%	Debra Ann Glenn (D) 39%
District 81	David Travis* (D) 66%	James Reeves (R) 34%
District 82	Jeff Stone* (R) unopposed
District 83	Scott Gunderson* (R) unopposed
District 84	Mark Gundrum* (R) unopposed
District 85	Greg Huber* (D) unopposed
District 86	Jerry Petrowski* (R) 67%	Jeff Starr (D) 33%
District 87	Mary Williams (R) 50.4%	Paula Houdek (D) 49.6%
District 88	Judy Krawczyk* (R) 60.5%	Bryan Milz (D) 35.5%
District 89	John Gard* (R) 69%	Alan Hager (D) 27%
District 90	Karl Van Roy (R) 51%	Roger Dier (D) 46%
District 91	Barbara Gronemus* (D) 67%	Jake Woldstad (R) 31%
District 92	Terry Musser* (R) 60%	Michael Taft (D) 40%
District 93	Rob Kreibich* (R) unopposed
District 94	Mike Huebsch* (R) 60%	Vicki Burke (D) 40%
District 95	Jennifer Shilling* (D) 64%	Jerome Gundersen (R) 36%
District 96	DuWayne Johnsrud* (R) 62%	Miguel Morga (D) 38%
District 97	Ann Nischke (R) 62%	Roger Danielsen (D) 35%
District 98	Scott Jensen* (R) 83%	Robert Collison (L) 10%
District 99	Michael Lehman* (R) 84%	Jan Trommer (L) 12%

* incumbent

Political News
GOP wins key Senate races, regains majority: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Nov. 6, 2002. State Senate Republicans scored two narrow upsets and were on the verge of a third early today.

Doyle beats McCallum: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Nov. 6, 2002. Democrats regain governor's office after 16 years.

Despite scandals, GOP strengthens hold on Assembly: Wisconsin State Journal, Nov. 6, 2002. But locally, state Rep. Rick Skindrud, R-Mount Horeb, lost to Democrat Sondy Pope-Roberts.

Doyle wins, sees 'a new day': Wisconsin State Journal, Nov. 6, 2002. Defeated Gov. Scott McCallum by a small but clear margin after the most expensive governor's race in history.

McCallum will need a new job: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Nov. 6, 2002. It’s possible that McCallum could end up in a development-related job.

Baldwin, state's congressmen win: Wisconsin State Journal, Nov. 6, 2002. On nearly every issue, the candidates offered a clear choice.

Doyle's first challenge: Budget woes: Eau Claire Leader-Telegram, Nov. 6, 2002. Challenger defeats McCallum.

New governor takes on a tough job (opinion): Green Bay Press-Gazette, Nov. 6, 2002. Must make the tough choices necessary to restore fiscal responsibility and faith in state government.

Lautenschlager wins AG race: Green Bay Press-Gazette, Nov. 6, 2002. Outagamie DA Biskupic falls in late vote totals.

Green easily wins bid for third term in House: Appleton Post-Crescent, Nov. 6, 2002. Gained more votes than his two opponents put together.

Republicans add to state Assembly base; Green Bay gains seat: Appleton Post-Crescent, Nov. 6, 2002. State Rep. Lee Meyerhofer, D-Kaukauna, defeated in the 5th Assembly District.

Underheim turns back challenger: Oshkosh Northwestern, Nov. 6, 2002. Won all but the two wards on the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh campus.

Leibham up by 23 votes: Sheboygan Press, Nov. 6, 2002. Lead changed repeatedly all night.

Lasee returned to post in Assembly: Manitowoc Herald Times, Nov. 6, 2002. “(I’ll) try to get my Taxpayer Bill of Rights passed in the Assembly.”

Shilling holds seat in 94th: La Crosse Tribune, Nov. 6, 2002. Dealing with the state's anticipated deficit will be the Legislature's number-one issue.

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